Ongoing Child Welfare Services and Referrals to Services by Primary Form of Substantiated Maltreatment in Ontario in 2013 Kate Allan, Rachael Lefebvre, Serena Goel & Barbara Fallon
May 2015
Introduction The Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect, 2013 (OIS-2013) is the fifth
provincial study to examine the incidence of reported child maltreatment and the characteristics
of children and families investigated by child welfare authorities in Ontario. This Information
Sheet examines the estimated number of investigations that are transferred to ongoing child
welfare services and referrals to services that are either internal or external to a child welfare
agency.
Findings There were an estimated 125,281 maltreatment-related investigations conducted in Ontario in
2013. There were an estimated 97,951 investigations involving an incident of maltreatment and
an estimated 27,330 risk-only investigations. At the end of the initial investigation, 34% of
maltreatment investigations were substantiated (an estimated 43,067 investigations).
The OIS-2013 also asked workers to indicate whether the investigation would be transferred to
ongoing child welfare services. As shown in Table 1, transfers to ongoing child welfare services
varied by primary form of substantiated maltreatment. Substantiated neglect investigations were
most likely to stay open for ongoing child welfare services (59%), followed by substantiated
sexual abuse investigations (44%), substantiated exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV)
investigations (42%), physical abuse investigations (42%). Only one third of substantiated
emotional maltreatment investigations were transferred to ongoing child welfare services.
Page 1 of 5 Information Sheet 157E Table 1.
Ongoing child welfare services by primary form of substantiated maltreatment in Ontario in
2013^
Primary Form of Maltreatment Physical Abuse Ongoing Child Welfare Services Sexual Abuse Emotional Maltreatment Neglect Exposure to IPV Total # % # % # % # % # % # % Yes 2,311 42 362 44 5,946 59 1,885 34 8,474 42 18,978 45 No 3,178 58 454 56 4,158 41 3,722 66 11,969 59 23,481 55 Total 5,489 100 816 100 10,104 100 5,607 100 20,443 100 42,459 100 ^ Based on a sample of 1,811 substantiated child maltreatment-related investigations with information about ongoing child welfare services.
Percentages are column percentages, and may not add to 100% because of rounding.
Please see Figure 1 for a visual representation of these findings.
Figure 1.
Ongoing child welfare services by primary form of substantiated maltreatment in Ontario in
2013
70% 58% 60% 50% 42% 44% 41% 40% 33% 30% 20% 10% 0% Physical Abuse Sexual Abuse Neglect EmoKonal Exposure to IPV Maltreatment Workers were also asked to indicate whether they made a referral to either a service internal or
external to child welfare. These findings are shown in Table 2. In the majority of substantiated
maltreatment investigations, a referral to services was made for either the family or child.
Investigations where the primary form of substantiated maltreatment was sexual abuse were most
likely to be referred for services (84%), followed by substantiated exposure to intimate partner
violence (IPV) investigations (65%), substantiated neglect investigations (60%), substantiated
Page 2 of 5 Information Sheet 157E physical abuse investigations (57%), and substantiated emotional maltreatment investigations
(54%).1
Table 2.
Referrals to services beyond the parameters of ongoing child welfare services by primary form of
substantiated maltreatment in Ontario in 2013^
Primary Form of Maltreatment Physical Abuse Referral to Services Made Sexual Abuse Emotional Maltreatment Neglect Exposure to IPV Total # % # % # % # % # % # % Yes 3,115 57 685 84 6,062 60 3,037 54 13,212 65 26,111 62 No 2,374 43 131 16 4,042 40 2,570 46 7,231 35 16,348 38 Total 5,489 100 816 100 10,104 100 5,607 100 20,443 100 42,459 100 ^ Based on a sample of 1,811 substantiated child maltreatment-related investigations with information about ongoing child welfare services.
Percentages are column percentages, and may not add to 100% because of rounding.
Please see Figure 2 for a visual representation of these findings.
Figure 2.
Referrals to services beyond the parameters of ongoing child welfare services by primary form of
substantiated maltreatment in Ontario in 2013
90% 84% 80% 70% 60% 57% 65% 60% 54% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Physical Abuse Sexual Abuse Neglect EmoKonal Exposure to IPV Maltreatment 1
A detailed breakdown can be found in the OIS 2013 Major Findings Report
Page 3 of 5 Information Sheet 157E Background Due to changes in investigation mandates and practices over the last 15 years, the OIS-2008 and
OIS-2013 differed from previous cycles in that they tracked both risk-only investigations and
maltreatment investigations. Risk-only investigations were those in which a specific past incident
of maltreatment was not suspected or alleged to have occurred, but rather a constellation of
factors lead to concerns that a child may be maltreated in the future (e.g., caregiver with a
substance abuse issue).
Methodology The OIS-2013 used a multi-stage sampling design to select a representative sample of 17 child
welfare agencies in Ontario and then to select a sample of cases within these agencies.
Information was collected directly from child protection workers on a representative sample of
5,265 child protection investigations conducted during a three-month sampling period in 2013.
This sample was weighted to reflect provincial annual estimates. After two weighting procedures
were applied to the data, the estimated number of maltreatment-related investigations (i.e.,
maltreatment and risk-only investigations) conducted in Ontario in 2013 was 125,281.
For maltreatment investigations, information was collected regarding the primary form of
maltreatment investigated as well as the level of substantiation for that maltreatment
(substantiated, suspected, or unfounded). Thirty-two forms of maltreatment were listed on the
data collection instrument, and these were collapsed into five broad categories: physical abuse
(e.g., hit with hand), sexual abuse (e.g., exploitation), neglect (e.g., educational neglect),
emotional maltreatment (e.g., verbal abuse or belittling), and exposure to intimate partner
violence (IPV) (e.g., direct witness to physical violence). Workers listed the primary concern for
the investigation, and could also list secondary and tertiary concerns.
For each risk investigation, workers determined whether the child was at risk of future
maltreatment. The worker could decide that the child was at risk of future maltreatment
(confirmed risk), that the child was not at risk of future maltreatment (unfounded risk), or that
the future risk of maltreatment was unknown.
Workers were asked to provide information on various other aspects of their investigation,
including the characteristics of the household, caregivers, and child subject of the investigation,
the history of previous child welfare case openings, and the short-term child welfare service
dispositions.
Limitations The OIS collects information directly from child welfare workers at the point when they
completed their initial investigation of a report of possible child abuse or neglect, or risk of
future maltreatment. Therefore, the scope of the study is limited to the type of information
available to them at that point. The OIS does not include information about unreported
maltreatment nor about cases that were investigated only by the police. Also, reports that were
Page 4 of 5 Information Sheet 157E made to child welfare authorities but were screened out (not opened for investigation) were not
included. Similarly, reports on cases currently open at the time of case selection were not
included. The study did not track longer-term service events that occurred beyond the initial
investigation.
Three limitations to estimation method used to derive annual estimates should also be noted. The
agency size correction uses child population as a proxy for agency size; this does not account for
variations in per capita investigation rates across agencies in the same strata. The annualization
weight corrects for seasonal fluctuation in the volume of investigations, but it does not correct
for seasonal variations in types of investigations conducted. Finally, the annualization weight
includes cases that were investigated more than once in the year as a result of the case being reopened following a first investigation completed earlier in the same year. Accordingly, the
weighted annual estimates represent the child maltreatment-related investigations, rather than
investigated children.
Comparisons across OIS reports must be made with caution. The forms of maltreatment tracked
by each cycle were modified to take into account changes in investigation mandates and
practices. Comparisons across cycles must in particular take into consideration the fact that the
OIS-2008 was the first to explicitly track risk-only investigations.
Suggested citation: Allan, K., Lefebvre, R., Goel, S., & Fallon, B. (2015). Ongoing Child
Welfare Services and Referral to Services by Primary Form of Substantiated Maltreatment in
Ontario 2013. CWRP Information Sheet #157E. Toronto, ON: Faculty of Social Work,
University of Toronto. Page 5 of 5 Information Sheet 157E